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Michael Wallace makes return to Savannah State football team

Life has come full circle for Savannah State assistant football coach Michael Wallace.

He was born in Clyo and played for Effingham County High School before earning a scholarship to Savannah State. He starred with the Tigers as a player and eventually logged 11 years as an assistant before leaving to coach at Morris Brown, Clark Atlanta, Stillman, Lane and Benedict.

Now he has returned to the school by the sea.

Wallace will be coaching the inside linebackers and special teams for Tigers first-year coach Earnest Wilson.

“Coaching here at my alma mater is always what I wanted to do,” Wallace said. “When I got into my fourth or fifth year (as an assistant coach at SSU), I didn’t even consider trying to go anywhere. This is where I was happy.”

Wallace brings memories of good times at Savannah State. He met his wife Angela at school, and the couple has three children.

On the playing fields, he was a teammate of Shannon Sharpe and earned All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors as a defensive back on the 1989 team that lost only once — to eventual undefeated Division I-AA champion Georgia Southern.

Wallace played and coached with one of Savannah State’s most successful coaches, Bill Davis.

“I learned just about everything from coach Davis, from how to be organized, to how you discipline your (players), to how you take care of your (players),” Wallace said.

Wilson said he has known Wallace for about 15 years.

“He’s a guy who has a cool, level head,” said Wilson, who owes Wallace a bit of gratitude.

Wallace called Wilson when the SSU job opened in 2011.

“He said I’d be a good fit for Savannah State,” said Wilson, who landed the position the next time it opened.

Familiar grounds

Wallace sees a lot of changes. He points out the campus is nicer, with several new buildings. The facilities have been upgraded tremendously. The whole experience, coming back, he says, has been pleasant.

Even a reunion with the gnats.

“Being here so many years before, the couple of gnats that are around, they don’t faze me,” Wallace said, laughing.

He knows the area and has excelled in it. In high school, he played for Bob Griffith and, as a senior, earned the team’s Golden Helmet award as the its most valuable player.

He was inducted into the Effingham County High School Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.

At Savannah State, Wallace was an All-SIAC performer as a junior and senior. As SSU’s defensive coordinator coach in 1995, the team led Division II in pass defense and pass efficiency defense.

But more importantly, the team had eight winning seasons in his 12 years as a Tiger assistant.

Wallace is a reflection of what can happen here, and that’s just what a team with three straight 1-10 seasons needs.

The Tigers have held three preseason practices. Saturday’s workout began at 5 a.m. At about 4 p.m., Wallace met with players.

There’s plenty of work to be done by a staff that was announced only 10 days ago.

“Coming in late, we had to hit the ground running,” Wallace said. “We spent a lot of time in the playbook just learning terminology. Football is still going to be football. Whatever defense we’re going to run, it’s not like we’re inventing it. We just have to match the terminology with what we know.”

Wallace called SSU’s new defense “multiple,” and he liked some of the pieces he’s working with at outside linebacker, particularly sophomores Justin Dixon and Trevion Ashford.

“We’re not that deep, but what we do have, I think we can win with,” Wallace said.